7 Solutions for Educators Who Want 21st Century Students to Tune In

More and more I am reading articles like this one Colleges worry about always-plugged-in students. In it they talk about college professors and administrators who have or are considering unplugging student’s access to the internet or banning technology altogether so students will focus. These learning institutions are moving in the wrong direction!

When we blame or ban the technology, we solve our issue temporarily, but we are ignoring the root of the problem.When it comes to learning, many educators know banning is the easy way out, but there are a number of reasons behind why students are not paying attention. Rather than taking away student rights and the freedom to use the tools they want, we must address the root of the issue that is causing the problem. My advice comes from someone who teaches adults and students in a “no ban zone.” These ideas work for me and they will work for you…READ MORE

Let’s unplug the digital classroom

By Doug Mann, The Toronto Star,Saturday October 06, 2012

We are entering an age when the “digital delivery of course content can free faculty in traditional institutions to engage in direct dialogue and mentorship with students.”

Such views are misinformed at best, crude propaganda for Apple and Microsoft at worst. The use of digital technology in higher education has promoted ignorance, not knowledge, and severely degraded basic reading, writing and thinking skills. It’s time to hit the off button.

One problem with the most enthusiastic futurists is that too many of them haven’t spent any time in the classroom in the last decade.READ MORE

School 2.0: teachers will be liberated from the classroom

Somewhere, this year, a university hired its last tenured professor. That’s because of the economic pressures on higher education. Next year, a university will hire its last faculty member expected to teach in a classroom. And that’s because of the technological pressures on higher education.

Technology won’t kill university education any more than television killed radio, but it will transform it. While your kids will still go to college, and it will still cost a fortune, their study time will look radically different than it does today. Even though our university classroom teachers may be replaced with robots, websites or direct-to-brain Ethernet jacks, on-campus higher education will still have a place that no Massive Open Online Course will supplant in our lifetime.

To understand why the future won’t kill college, it helps to remember how technology has already transformed education.

I only just recently heard about Pinterest through Twitter and so, in the interests of exploration and self-edification, I opened up an account and began noodling around. The internet is awash with a unending and constant wave of Web 2.0 innovation and many of these sites, although interesting, just don’t have the right… ‘it’ factor or oomph to stick around or to capture the imagination of web users. Pinterest, from what I gather, has earned some rave reviews (“Pinterest, the new social media craze“) and is, I believe, gathering steam in terms of the number of users.

I found this interesting article at Edudemic
again via Twitter (Ah, Twitter…) and thought I would pass it along:

20 Ways Libraries Are Using Pinterest Right Now

“Pinterest is taking the social media world by storm, and it isn’t just popular with individual users. Businesses, nonprofits, and even libraries are sharing ideas and information through the site as well, connecting with people from around the country and around the globe.

Whether you’re a librarian, student, teacher, or just an avowed bibliophile, Pinterest offers another great way to keep up with creative and cutting-edge ways libraries are engaging with their communities. Read on to learn about some of the many ways libraries are helping spread the word about the resources and services they offer, using this innovative new social media forum.

Pinning book covers. Many librarians are capitalizing on the visual power of Pinterest to show off book covers, especially those from new books, special collections, and kid-friendly material. It can be a great way to attract readers to books they might not have otherwise checked out.

Showcasing historic archives. Libraries often have much more than books in their archives. Take the San Francisco Public Library, for instance. They’re using Pinterest to show off amazing historic images of the city, from photos of old library branches to some unbelievable WWII images of the bay.”

“The principal of New Milford (N.J.) High School has nearly 12,300 Twitter followers (his handle: @NMHS_Principal). He and his teachers use Facebook to…” Read more. Social media find place in classroom